Forbidden Nights With The Viscount

Four friends united by power, privilege and the daring pursuit of passion!

From being disreputable rogues at Oxford to becoming masters of the political game, Giles Hadley, David Tanner Smith, Christopher Lattimar and Benedict Tawny live by their own set of unconventional rules.

But as the struggle for power heats up so too do the lives of these daring friends. They face unexpected challenges to their long-held beliefs and rigid self-control when they meet four gorgeous independent women with defiant streaks of their own …

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Change: it’s necessary for life to progress, and yet most of us resist or fear it. How do we know which essentials should remain the same and which we should let go of to make room for something better? The period of the Great Reform Act of 1832 has always fascinated me for that reason: men of honour and conscience held radically opposing views of what change should take place.

For Giles Hadley, estranged son of an earl, restricting the power of the aristocracy—including the father who rejected him and his mother—has very personal overtones. On the opposing side, Lady Margaret Roberts, daughter of a conservative marquess, grew up with a love of the land and a deep sense of responsibility towards the people who live on it.

Maggie and Giles agree on almost nothing—except a desire to give full rein to the passion that flares between them. Neither the widowed Maggie, who lost her true love and refuses to risk her heart again, nor the embittered Giles, product of a marriage gone horribly wrong, has any interest in more than a mutually agreeable interlude.

But passion—and love—don’t follow rules or preferences. When a mysterious attacker puts Maggie in danger, prematurely ending their liaison, both the conservative lady and the liberal lord must decide whether they dare risk a radical change of view in order to claim the love of a lifetime.

I hope you’ll enjoy their journey.

Forbidden Nights

with the Viscount

Julia Justiss

www.millsandboon.co.uk

JULIA JUSTISS wrote her first ideas for Nancy Drew stories in her third-grade notebook, and has been writing ever since. After publishing poetry in college she turned to novels. Her Regency historical romances have won or been placed in contests by the Romance Writers of America, RT Book Reviews, National Readers’ Choice and the Daphne du Maurier Award. She lives with her husband in Texas.

For news and contests visit juliajustiss.com.

To the Beau Monde group of RWA, without whose historical expertise, and graciousness in sharing it, this book could not have been written.

Contents

Cover

Introduction

Author Note

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Extract

Copyright

Prologue

London—late April, 1831

‘So your half-brother is getting married.’

At his best friend’s comment, Giles Hadley, ostensible Viscount Lyndlington and Member of Parliament for Danford, looked up from the reports he was studying in the small private room of the Quill and Gavel, a public house near the Houses of Parliament. ‘George?’ Giles asked, not sure he’d heard correctly.

David Tanner Smith, Member from the Borough of Hazelwick, gave Giles a patient smile. ‘Yes, George. Have you another half-brother?’

Stifling his first sharp reply—that he didn’t care who or whether his irritating half-brother married—he said instead, ‘What makes you think George is getting leg-shackled?’

‘It all but says so in the Morning Post. “Lady M., daughter of the Marquess of W.,” David read, “has been seen frequently of late in the company of the Earl of T.’s younger son, the Honourable G.H. The lady has wealth and impeccable connections, the gentleman aspirations to high office, even if he is not to inherit. Might this be a match made in political heaven?”’

‘Lady Margaret, daughter of the Marquess of Witlow—if I’m correctly filling in the newspaper’s discreet blanks—certainly possesses the credentials to make an ideal wife for any man wanting to dominate Tory circles,’ Giles admitted. ‘No wonder George is interested.’

‘Indeed. With the marquess’s wife in delicate health, Lady Margaret has played hostess for her father for years, ever since she lost her husband—Lord Roberts. Died in a carriage accident, tragically soon after their marriage.’

‘Five or six years ago, wasn’t it?’ Giles asked, scanning through memory.

‘Yes. Besides that, her brother doesn’t care for politics. Which means the man who marries Lady Margaret will not only gain a wife with extensive political expertise, but also inherit all the power and influence the marquess would otherwise have expended on behalf of his son.’